Have you ever been in a hurry to accomplish something and totally missed the goal because you were too hurried in the process? That’s what happened to me when I hurriedly put a Facebook request out to a group I participate in.
I wanted some feedback on a description I was crafting for my business. I was re-writing my elevator speech, you know, that thing we all need to have to answer the question, “What do you do?” when at a networking meeting. It’s not my favorite thing to work on. Did I mention I was in a hurry?
I talked with a friend who shared a concept he’d heard on turning the canned formulaic elevator speech on its head. He’s been using this concept with some success, so I decided to see what I could come up with.
Here’s what I came up with: “I’m on a mission to unleash the power of courageous leaders stepping into their masterpiece work.”
The Train Went Off the Tracks
BUT here’s where I went wrong. Here’s where the train went off the tracks. Here’s where I want you to learn from my mistakes.
“Friends, I am working on my tagline/response instead of a canned elevator speech. What do you think of this?
“I'm on a mission to unleash the power of courageous leaders stepping into their masterpiece work.”
I'm looking for any and all feedback. Thanks for your feedback!”
When I posted this in the private Facebook group, I didn’t think about the people who were in the group. Were they my tribe? Would they be the people at the networking event? And what did I ask them? I said I was working on a tagline/elevator speech, which is really not what I was doing.
So, I learned a great deal from the interchange on this post, but it wasn’t all what I was looking for.
And if anyone who is reading this blog post was part of the Facebook post, thank you for your insights. You provided me with valuable feedback. I really appreciate the time and energy you took to respond to my request. I learned SO much from your responses.
7 Lessons Learned
Here are the seven lessons I learned:
- Be very clear in what you're asking for. I asked for the wrong thing; not only was I not clear, but I didn’t ask for what I really wanted – feedback on the “non-elevator speech”.
- Hurry is not your friend. I was so impatient to get it out there that I didn’t think through the wording or the audience…
- Consider who is in this audience. If you ask the wrong person, you'll get the wrong answer.
- Keep what works, discard the rest. Everyone who responds is not going to have answers that fit your situation. It’s ok to not keep every single piece of feedback you receive.
- Trust your instincts, but verify with the right people/audience.
- Learn from your mistakes. We can’t learn if we never make a mistake.
- Be gracious to those who take the time to comment, even if they're not giving you the information you were looking for. Each of the people who responded to my request for feedback gave me a thoughtful response. It took their time to write their response. That’s well worth your gracious gratitude.
Before you post to Facebook or any other social media, remember these two take aways:
Think about what you want to learn before you post your question. Write your post to address that goal.
Write your post to the right audience. If you truly want feedback, you have to ask those who are part of the group with whom you are trying to connect.
That Darned Imposter Syndrome
I recorded a podcast sharing this information Tuesday evening. You can listen to it here. After recording it, I faced my own Imposter Syndrome moment. I struggled with whether to put the podcast out there – what would you think of me if you knew I didn’t have the perfect elevator speech? What would you think about me if I don’t post perfectly clear requests on Facebook every single time? The answer? You’d think I’m human!
You know what happened next? I listened to the final version of the podcast….and I’m proud of what I shared. It’s my experience. It’s what really happened to me. And I do have to finesse my elevator speech. I’m excited to try it out.
Have you ever posted something in a hurry and not gotten the response you’d expected? Share with us in the comments section below. I’ll take any feedback on my elevator speech, too.
